Printing-telegraph system.



No. 633,586. Patented Sept. 26,1899.

, C. L. HEALY.

PRINTING TELEGRAPH SYSTEM.

(Applicafion led Feb. 17, 1899.)

(No Model.)

TH: ohms PETERS co. Pnm'ouwo., wAsnmcmN. n. c.

NrTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CLARENCE L. HEALY, CF NEWARK, NEV JERSEY.

PRINTING-TELES RAPH SYSTEVI.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 633,586, dated September 26, 1899.

Application filed February 17, 1899. Serial No. 705,868. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CLARENCE L. HEALY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Printing-Telegraph Systems, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to various improvements in printing-telegraph systems of the general type embodied in Letters Patent heretofore granted to me and used principallyfor the printing' of stock-quotations, &c.

In my system two lines-namely, a printing and a press circuitare employed, one controlling the printing wheel or wheels of the receiving apparatus and the other controlling the printing operations. The printing-circuits are operated from relays under the control of the transmitter, and the presscircuits are operated from relays under the control of time-relays acting to close the press circuit or circuits momentarily after the printing-transmitting apparatus has caused the rotation of the type wheel or wheels to the desired extent. The transmitter is provided with a friction-driven shaft carrying a polechanger which sends current reversals to the several printing-relays, said shaft also having a clutch-wheel and trailing arm thereon, the latter working over the usual sunflower and the clutch being actuated to arrest movement of the shaft when the trailing arm reaches the sunflower-plate in circuit with the depressed key.

In most of the stock-printing-telegraph systems the closing of the press-circuits or the holding of the transmitter during the printing of a character depends upon the keyboardoperator, and considerable skill is required to accurately gage the proper duration of the depression of a key to insure suiicient time for the correct printing of each letter. It frequently happens that in transmitting rapidly there is a great variation of the length of time given to the printing operation, and the tendency is to curtail that operation by depressing the key an insufficient time. In my improved apparatus I automatically hold the transmitter the exact length of time ateach printing operation, whereby the printing will be entirely uniform and the speed of operaiion of the apparatus increased.

In prior systems difficulty has been experienced in operating relay contact-points for rapidly reversing high-potential currents on account of the spark at the points. Condensers have been used but it has been found that the variations in the line discharge often do not correspond with the condenser, resulting in sparking at the contact-points, shortcircuiting thereof, and the blowing of the fuses to cut off the current. In order to partially avoid this objection, the plan has generally been to permit a longer break at the contacts; but this necessarily reduced the length of the line impulses and reduced the .speed at which the current reversals could be transmitted.

A further feature of my present invention relates to a novel arrangement of a condenser, whereby the spark at the relay-points in reversing the current will be under perfect control and by the use of which it will be possible to adjust the play of the relay-contacts within very close limits. This lessens the inertia of the relay-arm, makes the reversals more perfect, and allows for higher speed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a diagram of a printing-telegraph system embodying my present improvements, and Fig. 2 a perspective view illustrating the construction of the contact device and trailing arm.

In both of the above views corresponding parts are represented by the same numerals of reference.

The parts shown in Fig. l are at the transmitting end. The transmitter is provided with a shaft l, driven frictionally through a pulley 2, said shaft carrying a pole-changer 3 at one end, a clutch-wheel 4, and a trailing arm The trailing arm 5 works over the suniiower-plates G, each connected to a stop 7, with which cooperates one of the keys 8 of the keyboard. Cooperating with the clutchwheel 4 is a clutch 9, adapted to be moved to engage said wheel by the energization of a clutch-magnet l0 or to be withdrawn from such wheel by the energization of a releasemagnet ll. 'When the clutch engages the clutch-wheel, the transmitter-shaft l will be stopped, but the driving-pulley will continue to rotate owing to the friction connection between it and the shaft.

The pole-changer 3 is provided with two IOO y 5, as shown.

brushes 12 and 13, connected to the opposite poles of the source of supply, and with a brush 14: for receiving the positive and negative impulses, which are transmitted over a line 15 to pole-changing relays 16. Each polar relay connects with escapement-circnit 17 and transmits current reversals to the same to operate the escapement devices of the receivers, as is common. In each escapement-circuit 17 there are as many receiving instruments as may be desired. By using pole-changing relays 16 interposed between the circuits and the transmitter the capacity of the transmitting apparatus can be increased by the use of additional polar relays and without the necessity of enlarging the transmitting apparatus proper.

The clutch 9 carries a contact 1S, adapted to engage the stationary contact 19 when the clutch is actuated to engage the clutch-wheel 4. The contact 18 connects with a local relay20, thence to the tongue or lever of a current-shifter 2l, normally connected to a line 22, including the press-relays 23. These relays are adapted to close the several presscircuits 24E and to effect the printing 'operation at the receivers. The back-stop of the current-shifter 21 is connected to grou nd through a resistance 25 substantially equal to that of the line 22. The armature of the relay 2O closes a local circuit through a second relay 26 to ground, and the armature of the relay 26 closes a loca-l circuit through the magnet 27 of the shifter 2l, thence through the releasemagnet 11 of the clutch 9 to ground.

The clutch-magnet 10 is in a circuit 2S, including the transmitter-keys and trailing arm The construction of this trailing arm is illustrated more particularly in Fig. 2. The arm 5 is provided with a barrel 29 at its end, having preferably a slot or kerf and receiving a contact-brush 31, provided with a key 32, working in said slot. The contact-brush 30 is preferably provided with a reduced extension 33, 'surrounding which is a spiral spring 34 for pressing the brush 31 into contact with the suniiower-plates 6. Any tendency on the part of the arm 5 to move away from the sunflower when rotation of the transmitter-shaft is arrested will not affect the contact between the brush 31 and the segments owing to the elastic pressure of the spring.

The press-circuits 24E extend through graduated resistances 35, which can be varied as desired to equalize the resistance of the several press-circuits. The escapement-circuit 17 extends also through graduated resistances 36, and owing to the practically continuous current reversals induencing these circuits a condenser is made use of. This condenser instead of being connected to the escapementcircuits at one point is divided, as shown, the smaller portion 37 being connected directly to the escapement-circuit between the relay and the resistance 36 and the larger portion 38 being connected to the escapement-circuit,

with a resistance of from fifty to one hundred ohms between it and the relay, as shown. Usually Ithe larger section 38 of the condenser connects with a strip 39, adapted to be connected by a strip 40 at any portion of the resistance 36 that maybe desired. For the purposes of clearness I do not show the supplycircuits in the system, but have used the conventional representations -land to indicate the source of current-supply. The operation is as follows:

Power being applied to the transmittershaft 1 through the friction-wheel 2, the polechanger 3 transmits over the line 15 current reversals which operate the polar relays 16 and cause current reversals to be transmitted over the escapement-circuit 17, allowing the printing-wheels of the receivers to partake of the same movement as the transmitter-shaft. Vhen one of the transmitter-keys 8 is depressed, a circuit will be closed through the clutch-magnet 10 when the trailing arm 5 reaches the corresponding segment of the sunflower. The energization of the clutch-magnet 10 operates the clutch 9 to arrest the movement of the transmitter-shaft 1. The operation of the clutch 9 engages the contacts 1S and 19, closing a circuit through the `first time-relay magnet 20, the shifter 21, the

press-circuit 22, and energizes the several press-relays 23. The latter relays close the several press-circuits to effect the printing operation on all the receivers. The first time- `relay 20 operates the second time-relay 26,

which energizes the magnet 27 of the shifter,

breaking the circuit to the press-relays, but

' tion will when the clutch 9 engages the clutchwheel hold the former in its active position. The clutch will be thus held frictionally in engagement with the clutch-wheel even if the circuit to the clutch-magnet 10 is broken at the keyboard until the press-relay circuit which is closed at the contacts 18 and 19 operates the time-relays 2O and 26, closing the releasing-circuit to the magnet 11 to Withdraw the clutch and allow the transmitter to proceed. If the depressed key Sis not released before the restoring-magnet 11 is energized by the operation of the relay 26, the clutch 9 will not be withdrawn until the circuit through the clutch-magnet 10 is broken at the keyboard. It will be seen that by thus holding the transmitter-shaft locked and out of the influence of the operator until after the operation of the press-relays the danger of the operator failing to depress the keys sufficiently to allow the press mechanism to IOO IOS

IIO

perform its work properly is overcome, for if thc operator stops the transmitter at all it cannot be released until the time-relays have closed the releasing-circuitthrough the release-1n agnet 1l. If, as stated, the keyboardoperator depresses a key for a longer time than is necessary, the press-relays 23 will be cut out at the transmitter 21, so that the length of time for effecting the printing at each instrument and for each letter will be the same in every case. The length of time that the press-relays are allowed to close will be adjusted by the throw of the time-relays 20, 26, and 27 and can be adjusted as may be desired.

It will be noted that the release-magnet ll is energized only after the stopping of the transmitter, being broken an instant after the transmitter-shaft again starts on its operation. By employing a clutch-magnet for positively moving the clutch in one direction and a release-magnet for eifecting positive movement thereof in the opposite direction I dispense with all retractile springs in connection therewith, and thereby secure a device wherein the clutch may be operated at very high speed. By employing a sectional condenser for the printing-circuits, as explained, and connecting the larger part thereof with vthe polar relays through a considerable resistance I am enabled to prevent any overdischarge. The smaller section 37 of the condenser neutralizes the discharge at that part of the escapement-circuit between the bridge l() and the relay-contacts, while by interposing a resistance between the larger section of the condenser and the relay-contacts the spark at the relay-points will be under perfect control, whereby the play of the contacts can be adjusted within very close limits.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

l. In a printing-telegraph transmitter, the combination with the transmitter-shaft, the clutch-wheel thereon, and the clutch for engaging said clutchwheel, of a clutch-magnet for effecting thc positive movement of the clutch and controlled from the keyboard, presssrelays controlling the press-circuits, a time-relay for determining the closure of the press-relay, and a release-magnet for the clutch controlled by the time-relay, substan-4 tially as set forth.

2. In a printing-telegraph transmitter, the combination with the transmitter-shaft, the clutch-wheel thereon and the clutch, of the clutch magnet for positively moving the clutch, the release-magnet for restoring the clutch, means controlled by the keyboard for operating the clutch-magnet, and means controlled by the clutch for causing the operation of the release-magnet, substantially as set forth.

3. In a printing-telegraph transmitter, the combination with the transmitter-shaft, the clutch-wheel thereon and the clutch, of a clutch-magnet, a release-magnet, a time-relay, circuit connections from the clutch for operating the timerelay,'and circuit connections from the time-relay for operating the release-magnet, substantially as set forth.

et. In a printing-telegraph transmitter, the combination with the transmitter, of a pressrelay, a time-relay controlled by the stopping of the transmitter, a current-shifter operated by the time-relay and connected to the pressrelay, and a compensating resistance connected to the backstop of said current-shifter, substantially as set forth.

5. In a printing-telegraph transmitter, the

combination with a polar-reversing relay, al 

